Blue Streak, Black Knight, Black Arrow
 

I have been asked by my publisher to write a second edition of my book, 'A Vertical Empire' [available from Amazon!]. I have decided to rewrite it almost from scratch.

The book covers the UK rocketry programme 1950-1971.

The reason I'm posting is to ask if any has memories of any of these projects (if you worked at Westcott or Farnborough, for example). If you have, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

On a Royal Artillery course in Anglesey in 1960 or thereabouts, we were being taught how to use a SAM called, I think, Thunderbird. Was it semi-passive? I believe so but could be wrong.

The course culminated in an exercise involving assessing an incoming threat and deciding when to launch and what at.

This was done, to save money, with a large sort of double-sided easel which allowed a talc board, marked up as a radar screen, to be passed from one side to the other over its top.

A WRAC stood on one side and plotted 3 targets, passed the board over to the trainee who assessed the targets and passed it back. The WRAC then replotted the targets and passed it back; it was assessed and passed back, and so on as the enemy drew nearer on the plot.

Some people were adept at writing upside-down messages to the WRAC, but this was frowned on.

This pleasurable game continued until the trainee gave the command to launch the SAM.

At this point the WRAC appeared on the trainee side with a bag containing 10 balls.

7 were black, and 3 were white, and if you picked a white one you had killed your target.

This was because the known probablility of an otherwise perfect shoot actually killing the target was 30%.

Yes, Thunderbird [a.k.a. as Red Shoes] was the mobile S.A.M. used by the Army. Only peripheral to the story, however, but thanks, anyway.

I didn't work on any of these projects but I've read some of the RAE reports on Black Knight and Black Arrow, and I have pdf copies of them if you are interested. It must have been facinating to work on and gut wrenching when the plug was pulled.

Is there a reason you have not included Skylark?

Skylark would be welcome, if you have stories. It's more space science than rocketry though. It was a very simple sounding rocket but very useful to scientists.

CNH, I've sent you a private message. Please respond if you think it may be useful.

Skylark
 

CNH.
I have sent you a PM, probably teaching you to 'suck eggs', but!

Skylark. I understand your reservations about it not fitting edition 1, but as both a research tool and the only British Sounding Rocket that had over 40 years of operation I do think it deserves a place in Edition 2. Because if you don't cover it, who will?

Skylark's more of interest for the science experiments than the rocketry. Some one has done a PhD on Skylark, and someone else is writing a book - though it's rather a specialised topic [even more so than mine!].